Short Communication
On cooperation in multi-agent systems 1
J. E. DORAN a1, S. FRANKLIN a2, N. R. JENNINGS a3 and T. J. NORMAN a3
a1 Department of Computer Science, University of Essex, UK
a2 Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Memphis, USA
a3 Department of Electronic Engineering, Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London, UK

Abstract
Cooperation is often presented as one of the key concepts which differentiates multi-agent systems from other related disciplines such as distributed computing, object-oriented systems, and expert systems. However, it is a concept whose precise usage in agent-based systems is at best unclear and at worst highly inconsistent. Given the centrality of the issue, and the different ideological viewpoints on the subject, this was a lively panel which dealt with the following main issues.